Cool GPS Plane Info From My Recent Vacation...

[shilala]

We had a little jump from Chicago to Akron, Ohio on the way back from California. I started messing with my GPS on my phone when we were on the big plane from CA to Chicago, but didn't really get an idea of the info I wanted to collect until I messed around a bit.
The info is basically useless, but I found it pretty interesting, and all the guys I've mentioned the stuff to thought it was cool, as well.

So here goes...
Our plane was an Embraer 145 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embraer_ERJ_145_family). That's one of those head bangers with two seats on one side, one on the other.
The altitude at Chicago O'Hare was 681 ft. above sea level.
The altitude in Akron was 1212 ft. above sea level.
Lift Off speed was 160 mph
Touchdown speed was 150 mph
Cruising altitude was 28,000 ft.
Cruising speed was 541 mph
Climibing and descent speed was 330 mph
The flight was 55 minutes long

The plane actually climbed for about 25 minutes. Then it leveled off for about 5 minutes. The it spent the next 25 minutes coming down.
So, in actuality, it just flew in a big rainbow. Sorta like flinging a rock out of a catapult, except we had a nice, soft landing. :)

I was amazed at how fast this little plane, let alone the big plane, could climb.
The numbers for the big plane were roughly the same as the little one, although I think the cruise speed was a bit faster in the big plane.
Just imagining the power necessary to push that plane up in the air the way it climbs is pretty astounding. The fact that it climbs at 330 mph blew my mind.

I'm guessing that the actual climb/descent speed is a good bit faster considering the plane is rising on about a 30* angle (guesstimate) and the GPS just reads forward speed. I lack the math to figure that out, but it's wicked impressive, regardless.

I hope that didn't bore you all to death. It was way too long a post and wrecked the laws of internet attention span, but I had fun typing it. :D

[G G]

:tu

[shark]

I wonder if my Blackberry Maps app would work mid flight, for those flights that offer WiFi? I think it would be interesting to see some perspective as to just how fast a Boeing 767 flies at cruising speed and altitude in relation to the ground.

[shark]

You wanna see an airplane accelerate, after a really, really short taxi?

http://youtu.be/FuD8KXPD3HI

Now THAT'S acceleration! LMAO!!!!

[kelmac07]

Scott...you geek. :r :r :r

[hotreds]

F-22 is an amazing aeroplane!

http://www.montgomeryaviationphotography.com/Pittsburgh2008/Resized_f22vapor3.jpg

I took my GPS on a plane trip and it was quite confused by not being on the highway! Only thing that was reading was elevation and that sporadically!

[shilala]

Guys, I used a program called GPS Tracks on my iPhone.
It's a freebie that isn't a road GPS at all, but a Garmin-type GPS that we had for hunting and stuff way back when. It's for marking waypoints and keeping track of where you are and where you've been, but just uses latitude and longitude to mark those points.
It works on the water, in the air, out in the woods, on roads, or any combination of those things.
It's Free, I do believe. I got it when I needed to point my HD antenna. It works great.

[AdamJoshua]

All i can say is, poor Bubs. :r

[hammondc]

I love those small jets. They are usually the faster of the planes in the fleet. I can't believe it worked the whole flight though. I need to DL that